Back Again
by WizardWay
Summary: Sirius does a spell wrong that results in time travel to Harry's seventh year at Hogwarts. Harry is not there, but Dumbledore's Army is...
1. Chapter 1 Prelude

**Hey, so this is my first fanfiction. I appreciate reviews!**

Chapter 1

"Potter!" Professor McGonagall's voice rang out as she looked down upon her most unruly student, James Potter, who was having a not-so-silent argument about Quidditch with his friend Sirius Black.

"Will you two ever pay attention?" she asked shaking her head.

"Sometimes," Sirius said grinning, leaning back ever so slightly in his seat. "If I'm in a good mood."

"Sirius, really," James and Sirius' other friend Remus Lupin surveyed Sirius with annoyance. "The spell is Let-ca-gi. It's for growing extra fingers on objects."

"At least someone pays attention." Professor McGonagall sighed as she made her way back to her desk.

"Go on, Padfoot, try the spell," James urged.

"Lek-na-li," Sirius swished his wand through the air.

Suddenly, there was a burst of yellow smoke that surrounded the three students. Professor McGonagall leapt to her feet, wand out, but a second later, it cleared. But James, Sirius, and Remus were gone.

James felt himself being lurched forward. He was hurtling through a whirlwind of sound and color. Before he or his friends could process any information, however, they found themselves on a hard, stone floor.

The boys could hear footsteps in the halls coming closer to them. Before they even had time to think, the door opened.

"Potter?" the voice was full of contempt-and a bit of surprise as well. The figure gasped as James looked up into his face. "It's Potter," the man said in awe. "But not the right one."

James was gaping up at the person, for it was none other than a much older, much scarier, and much more _sinister _Severus Snape.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, here's the next chapter.**

"Stay here." Snape's voice was like acid. "Don't move." The three boys were too appalled to say anything back. Snape left the room, sweeping his cloak like an overlarge bat as he glided away.

Severus Snape was not a happy man. He thought he'd never see James Potter again, but somehow, some way, he managed to come back to make Snape's life garbage again. Now, not only did he have to convince The Dark Lord not to kill, them, he had to tell Dumbledore's portrait as well. Not to mention what Potter's spawn would say when he found out. Then Snape reached the entrance to his office.

"Evans," Snape said curtly to the gargoyle. As he walked up the stone steps, he began to worry. _What would The Dark Lord say?_

As he reached his desk, Dumbledore's portrait spoke to him.

"What is it, Severus?" he asked, noting the furious expression on Snape's face.

"They're back again," Snape hissed venomously.

"Who's back?" Dumbledore asked calmly. _Curse him, _Snape thought._ He is always so calm and rational._

"You know perfectly well, Dumbledore!" Snape hissed again. "Potter, Black, and Lupin. At age seventeen."

Dumbledore only looked surprised for a moment. Then he regained his normal composure. "Severus, you know what you must do," he said urgently. "Convince Vold…"

"The name has a taboo!" Snape was back to hissing again.

"My dear man," Dumbledore chuckled. "I doubt Lord Voldemort will care about an old portrait saying his name."

"I suppose you're right," Snape sighed. "He won't be easy to convince, Dumbledore."

"Show him flattery," Dumbledore told him. "Use his own weapon against himself."

Snape was confused, but he didn't say anything. He simply headed toward his sleeping quarters. When he arrived, he knelt at the foot of his bed and pressed his dark mark to his mouth.

"My Lord," Snape whispered into the mark.

"What is it, Snape?" A high cold voice answered him back.

"My Lord, the Potter boy's father and two accomplices have arrived here from twenty years ago."

"Excellent." Now The Dark Lord's voice filled with pleasure. It made Snape feel slightly sick. "Kill him, so that his son will never be born."

"My Lord," Snape whispered. "I have something different in mind."

"Yes?" Snape could almost see Voldemort fingering his wand wondering whether to curse him or not.

"Well," Snape began. He decided to employ Dumbledore's advice. "We all know that you will defeat him, regardless of how."

"Yes," The Dark Lord whispered. "That is so."

"Would if we kept Potter and his friends alive?"

"What do you mean?" Voldemort sounded cruel again.

"They could see our new regime, watch how their world crumbles around them," Snape started to sound excited. "Then, when you finally do defeat Potter, you could use my Pensive to show it to them."

"I like that idea," Voldemort sounded thoughtful. "Introduce them to the new way things are run around here. Yes, that is fine, Snape. Show them to their new home."

Snape turned away and walked back into the office.

"So?" The portrait of the last headmaster questioned.

"For a time, it will work," Snape said bitterly.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore clapped his hands together. "Let Mr. Longbottom show them around. He can explain the predicament to them, if you wish."

Snape nodded and left the office to find his forever worst enemies.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok, here's the third chapter. Thank you to StarKid McFly for reviewing and putting my story on his/her favorites list!**

"Do you think that really was Snape?" The three boys were sitting against the floor of the classroom waiting for the strange man to return.

"I'm positive," James said confidently. "Who else would have hair that greasy?" The boys all laughed, but that came to an abrupt halt as Maybe-Snape barged into the room.

"Potter. Black. Lupin." Snape's voice was like venom. "I have a young boy here that will explain your predicament. You will be attending school here for the time being."

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked loudly. "We've been going to school here for six years."

"I'm sure Longbottom can explain this to you," Snape glared at them.

At the word "Longbottom," the three boys looked confused. "Frank Longbottom?" James questioned. "He graduated last year."

"As I told you," Snape said through gritted teeth. "Longbottom can explain everything to you." Snape stormed out into the hall and came back in dragging a round panting boy that looked a lot like their friend Alice.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked again. "You said you were bringing Longbottom in here. This isn't Frank. He looks a lot like Alice to me, but Alice can't have a twin brother. He'd be in our dormitory." Sirius was getting very confused.

"As I said before," Snape looked about ready to explode. "_Neville _Longbottom will explain it all to you." And with that he swept from the office like an over-sized bat.

"What's going on, _Neville?_" Remus looked at him up and down. He did look a lot like Alice.

"Professor Lupin?" Neville gaped. "I haven't seen you since third year!"

"What?" Sirius was sure that this was a very vivid dream that was frightening him half to death.

"What?" Remus was confused as well. "I'm a seventh year. I don't have qualifications for a professor."

"Oh, crap," Neville muttered. "You time traveled! Well, this is going to be difficult. Why don't you sit down?"

All the boys looked up at the words "time travel".

"Okay," Neville began. "I'm guessing you're…Remus Lupin?" Remus nodded. "James Potter?" James nodded as well. "Sirius Black?" There was a trace of fear in his voice as he said that, even though he knew that Sirius was innocent.

"Long story short, James, you get married to Lily"-

"WHOO-HOO!" James looked very excited punching his fist in the air as he did a victory dance. "I got Lily, I got Lily"-

"Prongs, shut up!" Sirius yelled. James became quiet but he still had a goofy grin on his face.

"You have a son named Harry…"

"Really?" Sirius said excitedly. "Am I godfathering?"

"Yeah," Neville grinned. Now Sirius had a big grin on his face.

"Okay, now I'm going to put a silencing charm on you now, because it's a long story that I don't want interrupted. The boys nodded, Sirius a bit reluctantly.

"Silencio!" Neville said three times, directing his wand at each of them in turn.

"Now, this is bad news," Neville said heavily. "On Halloween 1981, You-Know-Who came to your house, James. He murdered both you and Lily, but he couldn't kill Harry. All of his powers were lost that night."

The three boys looked extremely sad, but also a bit amazed.

"Harry went to live at his Muggle aunt's house."

The boys were a bit angry at this. _Why couldn't Harry have gone to Remus or Sirius?_

"I don't know the whole story here, but Sirius was thought responsible for giving Voldemort your address, and he blew up a whole street of Muggles and a guy named Peter Pettigrew."

Sirius felt awful as these words were being said. His entire world was crashing down around him.

"Harry said you were innocent, though," Neville muttered hurriedly. All the boys felt relief at this. "He said it was that Pettigrew guy that did it."

And the world crashed down upon all of the boys this time.

"Harry came to Hogwarts and he was famous," Neville said to them. "He did a bunch of dangerous things and saved a bunch of people's lives."

James felt proud that his son would save lives. It almost made his forget about his early death. Almost.

"In our third year, Profess-Remus was our DADA teacher," Neville smile at the look on Remus's face. "Sirius, you escape Azkaban that year."

James and Remus rolled their eyes at their friend. Of course Padfoot was the first person to escape Azkaban.

"I don't know much more than that, other that Remus was a great teacher." Neville again watched the look of marvel on his ex-professor's face.

"Anyway, in his fourth year, the Triwizard Tournament started up again. Someone put Harry's name in and he was forced to compete," Neville's voice became bitterer as he went on. "During the third task the cup was a Portkey. It took him and this guy, Cedric to a graveyard. Cedric was killed and Harry was forced to watch and take part in You-Know-Who's rise back to power."

All the boys looked absolutely horrified that a fourteen-year-old boy was to go through that.

"Harry escaped and told us that he was back," Neville's voice became even colder. "The next year, we had this awful DADA professor that wouldn't let us do any magic in class."

The boys were looking absolutely appalled. Their Defense teacher was better than that, and he was terrible.

"Harry found away around that, of course," Neville grinned at the boys smirking faces. "He started Dumbledore's Army and all of us practiced together."

The Marauders looked absolutely thrilled that James' son broke school rules.

"At the end of the year," Neville began with a heavy heart. "Harry had to talk to you, Sirius. I don't know why. He snuck up to use Umbridge's- that was what our Defense professor's name was- and he got caught, along with his friends that tried to help him."

Neville was smiling as he said his next sentence. "I was one of them."

"Anyway, we escaped and Harry told us that you were in trouble, Sirius, that You-Know-Who had you at the Ministry of Magic."

The three boys were scared again, Neville could tell.

"Anyway, we were fighting with the Death Eaters when some adults showed up. Harry told me that they were called The Order. You and Remus were there, Sirius. You weren't captured after all."

The boys breathed a sigh of relief but were obviously still worried.

"Bellatrix," Neville put his hands in fists, "Lestrange and you were dueling Sirius. You died."

All of the boys looked absolutely horrified.

"Remus you came over to us," Neville said sadly. "You said that Sirius was gone and couldn't come back. Harry didn't want to believe you. He tore after Bellatrix and I heard that Dumbledore and You-Know-Who had a big battle right in front of him."

"The Ministry started to believe he came back after that."

The Marauders looked a bit happier, but Neville could still see the grief on their faces.

And at the end of last year…" Neville didn't want to go on. But he did anyway. "Snape killed Dumbledore. And Harry saw it."

Now the boys looked murderous. Neville could see the hatred in their eyes.

"Over the summer, You-Know-Who took over the Ministry."

The boys were looking absolutely shocked now.

"The new minister put a price on Harry's head. 10,000 galleons," Neville muttered. Before waiting for them to look murderous again, Neville continued. "They also aren't allowing Muggle-Borns at Hogwarts anymore," Neville felt murderous as he said this. "And now Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are on the run."

Now the boys looked absolutely ferocious. Neville swore that if he gave Sirius a pillow, it would probably be ripped in half by now.

"I'm taking the silencing charms off," Neville told them. "Don't start screaming." He took the charms off them. They celebrated their newfound freedom of speech with a low growl from each of them.

"Come on," Neville said more cheerfully. "I'll show you your dorm. It's only me and Seamus now. Dean used to be in there with Harry and Ron, but he's a Muggle-Born."

"Can we have something to eat?" Sirius said hopefully.

Neville laughed. "I'm surprised that Ron isn't your son. You think along the exact same lines. And with that, the four of them went up to Gryffindor Tower.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the fourth chapter! I want to say thank you to chloexo, Dimcairien, becauseitwasme, and StarKid McFly for reviewing! Thank you, thank you, and thank you!**

"So, Neville," Sirius began as the four boys reached The Fat Lady. "Your last name is Longbottom, right?"

"Yes," Neville answered him hesitantly. Neville knew that he would have to answer questions about his parents now. Needless to say, he was not looking forward to it.

"Are you Frank and Alice's son?" James asked him.

"Yeah," Neville tried not to show any emotion. "Yeah, I am. Juniper."

"What was that?" James asked.

"The password, Prongs," Remus rolled his eyes. His friends could be so thick sometimes.

The three boys entered Gryffindor Tower to an uproar of yelling. All he could here was, "Is that Harry?" "Is Harry here?" "Did I just see Harry?"

James tried to cover his face. Apparently, Harry looked a lot like him. James was secretly smiling at that.

"NO!" Neville yelled. "It is NOT Harry! This is a relative of Harry's and his friends that just transferred here! Now GO TO SLEEP!"

The crowd moved away, grumbling. _They really want Harry back, _Sirius reasoned.

Neville lead his new roommates up the stairs. "I'm going to tell Seamus about you guys, alright?"

"Yeah, that's fine, right guys?" James asked.

"Yeah, we'll be sharing a room with him, so it would be better that he knows," Remus reasoned.

"Is Seamus…what's the word I'm looking for…good?" Sirius asked suspiciously.

"He was a bit of a jerk back in fifth year, but he's a lot better now," Neville told him. "He had just started in the D.A. when we were caught, but he's going to be in it this year."

"The Dumbledore's Army thing is happening this year, too?" James asked, obviously surprised. "I thought that was just because you had a toad for a teacher."

"Well, this year we have three," Neville said darkly. "I haven't had any yet, since today was only the second day of this term, but Michael Corner had one and told me that it was awful."

"Who are they?" Sirius asked. "What do they teach?"

"Amycus Carrow is a Death Eater that teaches Defense against the Dark Arts, except for it's just The Dark Arts now."

"What are we supposed to do in that class?" Remus sounded absolutely revolted in every way.

"I'm not sure," Neville admitted. "The Gryffindor seventh years don't have him until Thursday."

"What about the other two?" Sirius actually sounded a bit scared.

"Well, Amycus's sister Alecto teaches Muggle Studies, which is compulsory for everyone."

"Is she a Death Eater, too?" James asked.

"Yeah, she is," Neville sighed.

"Then I bet we learn about how all Muggles are scum," Sirius said.

"I bet we do," Neville muttered.

This conversation had leaded them to their dormitory. Neville pushed upon the door to reveal an Irish boy with bushy hair lying in bed staring at the ceiling. "Harry?" The boy gaped when it saw James's face.

"Nah, Seamus, this is James." Neville began his story about how they had traveled through time and that he had told them everything that had happened over the last couple decades.

"Did...did they know you parents?" Seamus asked softly. Neville was regretting telling him what had happened to them, even though it had only been a day ago.

"Yeah, we know Frank and Alice," Sirius smiled. "Alice is in our year. She's really cool and funny. She's Lily's best friend."

"Really?" Neville smiled. "I never knew that. I wonder if Harry did…Did you know my dad?"

"Frank?" James laughed. "Of course we know Frank. He was a year ahead of us, but he was going out with Alice so we saw him quite a bit. I think he got accepted into the Auror Academy. Is he still there now?"

"You didn't tell them?" Seamus shook his head. "They need to know…"

"Fine," Neville grumbled. "Brace yourselves," he told the Marauders. "This is not very good news."

"Something happened to your parents?" Remus whispered. "Are they…"

"No," Neville said helplessly. "They're not dead. Just a few days after your death James, when Harry defeated You-Know-Who…"

"Why do you keep saying You-Know-Who?" Sirius interrupted. "Just call him Vol..."

"NO!" Neville slammed a hand over Sirius's mouth. "Sorry," he told Sirius as he massaged his mouth. "But the Death Eaters put a Taboo on the name."

"Ok, then," Remus said before Sirius could interrupt again. "Continue with your story, Neville."

"Erm…" Neville was getting nervous. "The Death Eaters found my parents. They were both Aurors and the Death Eaters thought that they knew where You-Know-Who was. They tortured them," Neville said grimly. "Into insanity."

If the three boys looked like tortured souls before, it was nothing compared to how they looked now. "Where are they?" Remus whispered.

"St. Mungo's," Neville said with a heavy heart.

None of the boys felt like talking after that. Finally, when they were getting into bed, Sirius spoke.

"Neville?" he asked.

"Mmm?" Neville wasn't in the mood for talking at this moment.

"You said there were three horrible teachers. You only told us about two," Sirius said. "Who's the third?"

"Snape," Neville said disgustedly. "He's headmaster."

"WHAT?"

Needless to say, the three boys were very upset.


	5. Chapter 5

**The next chapter is up! Sorry it took so long. Thank you to everyone who added my story to her/his favorites list.**

**Cassandra30- Neville saw Sirius's death, but I don't think he would have been paying attention to his particular duel, he'd want to watch one with people he knew like Remus and Moody.**

**Dimcairien- There will be a TON of pranking coming up!**

The next morning was tough. Everyone was being very quiet and subdued as they got ready. The Marauders were still digesting all of the new information that they had received, and Neville was deep in thought about his parents again. Seamus was smart enough to stay silent and get out of their way.

"You ready to face Carrow?" Neville asked as the five of them walked down the staircase to The Great Hall. They had Muggle Studies right after breakfast.

"As ready as possible," Sirius shuddered. His parents were friends with the Carrow family, and if Amycus and Alecto were anything like their parents, this would be a long school year.

When the boys reached the Gryffindor table, Sirius immediately started shoving down large amounts of everything in sight. Neville and Seamus tried to grab things out of his reach, but James and Remus knew that it was a lost cause. When Sirius was hungry, he ate. A lot.

"Are you going to save any for us, mate?" James laughed as he took a seat next to Sirius. "You might just have to go on a diet if that's the way you're planning to eat every meal."

"Yeah," said Remus, sitting down on Sirius's other side. "You're making a bad impression on Neville and Seamus. They might think you're a pig."

"A handsome pig," said Sirius casually with a lopsided grin.

"But still a pig." Neville laughed along with the other boys. Harry's dad was really nice, and so were his friends. Of course, Neville knew that Remus would be kind. Remus was his favorite teacher. And Sirius was really funny and a lot like Ron. He just might get used to having these three around.

After breakfast, all of the Gryffindor seventh years went to Carrow's classroom. It looked normal to the naked eye, but Sirius knew that this was only to deceive them. He knew that they'd be getting a dose of the _real _Carrow momentarily. His prediction came true within minutes.

"Class," Carrow growled as she stomped into the room. "Welcome to Muggle Studies. Or as we should say, Garbage Studies, because Muggles are garbage. Don't you forget it. You're homework is to write a nine inch essay on how wizards are better off without Muggles in our lives. Well?" She glared down upon all of them. "Why aren't you working? Go!"

Everyone worked in silence for the next hour, even Sirius and James. Almost no one was doing the work; they were doodling or writing notes to their friends. Alecto was to busy staring at the wall to notice them.

"Hey," Neville muttered as the bell rang signaling the end of class. "How'd you three like to go to a bona fide Dumbledore's Army meeting tonight?"

"Sure," James muttered back, exchanging grins with Sirius and Remus. This was going to be good. And if they had anything to say about it, Snape wouldn't end up on top.


	6. Chapter 6

**New chapter, people! Sorry I've been taking so long with my updates…I'm just kind of lazy like that. Anyway, here we are!**

That night, at 7:00, Neville, Seamus, Sirius, James, and Remus were sitting in the corner of Gryffindor common room, conversing in low tones.

"Okay, guys," Neville muttered, checking his watch. "Now's the time. We'll need to leave separately to avoid suspicion. I'll leave first with Remus."

And with that, Remus and Neville stood up and left through the portrait hall.

"Alright," Seamus glanced down at his watch. "They've been gone for five minutes; I reckon we can go now."

The three boys headed out into the dark, musty hallway. Seamus motioned for them to follow him. He led the two past boys up to the fifth floor, by the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, and Seamus paced in front of the wall three times, his eyes screwed up in concentration. Then a golden door handle appeared. Sirius and James grinned at each other. They had come across this door two years ago, trying to hide from Filch. Seamus motioned them inside.

They were greeted by an uproar of people all standing in a large room with ample space for practicing spells and curses. James could see Neville unsuccessfully trying to calm the people down, but they surrounded James like a moth to a flame.

"Is it Harry?" "Is Harry here?" "Is it really him?" It was worse than the common room. _Harry must really be popular,_ James thought.

"CALM DOWN!" Neville yelled, causing most people to shrink back in fright. "This is Harry's-erm-_cousin _that's going to Hogwarts this year. His name is James."

"That's Harry's dad's name!" a small boy chirped up from the back of the room.

"Yes, I understand that," Neville said exasperatedly. "James is a family name. Now come on, we've got lots to cover tonight."

The kids all went over to the practice arena and sat down, with Neville standing in front of them, along with two girls James didn't know.

"Our first problem is quite obvious," Neville began.

"The Carrows," One of the girls up front with him interrupted. She had fiery red hair and chocolate brown eyes. _She looks a lot like Lily,_ Sirius realized.

"Yes, the Carrows," Neville nodded in agreement. "Now, what are some suggestions of what we could do to make their time here worse than their time in You-Know-Who's presence?"

"Well," began a boy that looked about their age with sandy blonde hair. "We shouldn't do their assignments, whatever they are."

"Definitely," piped up the boy who had recognized James' name said excitedly. "And we could talk back to them in class like Harry did to Umbridge."

_Harry talked back to a teacher? _Remus smiled. He was definitely James's son.

"Good ideas, both of you," Neville nodded towards the two boys. "What else?"

"We could attract the Nargles to them," the other girl up front said dreamily. She had blonde hair and sky blue eyes. "Then they're brains would go fuzzy and we could get away with more."

"Er…" No one really knew how to respond to that. Finally, the red haired girl broke the silence.

"You work on that, Luna," she said gently to the other girl, Luna. "Meanwhile, I think we should sneak out at night and write stuff on the walls like 'Dumbledore's Army, still recruiting." The girl smiled. "It would drive them mad."

_This girl had spunk, _Sirius realized. He would ask her out if she came from his time frame.

"Would about pranking Snape?" James said loudly. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy.

"Are you serious?" A girl with her hair in a plait down her back stared at him.

"No, I am!" Sirius grinned. He loved using his name joke. "I think it's a great idea."

"Do you two have any idea how dangerous that is?" A boy with a head boy badge looked down at them in amazement. "He'd kill you."

"Fine," Sirius said, flopping down onto a chair. "Be like that. But we," he motioned himself, James, and Remus, "will do it, and then you will appreciate our awesomeness."

"Ok then," said the red haired girl. "If you three manage to pull that off and survive, you'll be _official_ members of the DA."

"Ginny," Neville whispered to her urgently.

"No, Neville," she said shaking him off. "If they want to do it, they can. But it better be something useful," she said turning on the three marauders. "Steal something from him or kidnap Dumbledore's portrait. Or," Ginny said, a smile lighting up on her face. "Do something that would drive him insane, like paint his office pink. That," she grinned, a light shining radiantly upon her, "would be amazing."

Everyone nodded in agreement. The Marauders grinned at each other. This was going to be good.


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm back! Did you miss me? Sorry the update took so long, I've been busy…. **

**I'm sorry to StarKid McFly, for not answering your question last time, so here's the answer now!**

_**I think he probably knows the Carrows and their parents about the same. He would have gone to school with Amycus and Alecto, so he would have probably known them but not have been friends with them, (probably hexed them from time to time), but their parents might be "friends" though, so he could see them if they were visiting his mother.**_

**Now on with the story!**

"Are you ready?" Sirius whispered to James and Remus as they stood crouched behind a statue near the door to Snape's office.

"Yep," the other two boys answered together.

"We know our positions," Sirius whispered. "NOW!"

James was the distraction. He looked around, and carefully stood up from his spot next to the other two. He pretended to be casually sipping his pumpkin juice, but then none other than Severus Snape turned the corner to approach him. James was then to "accidentally" spill his drink, as he now did.

"Whoa!" the pumpkin juice slipped carelessly from his hand, and fell onto the ground, crashing the silver goblet and spilling the orange liquid everywhere. James ever so casually walked away then, pretending nothing had happened.

Snape, muttering darkly to himself, trained his wand onto the mess and said the spell that would remove the spilled drink from his presence. He then proceeded to whisper the password to the gargoyle and it opened. It was then, unknown to him, that two figures in an invisibility cloak sidled past him into the office.

As soon as Snape went to his private quarters, Sirius and Remus carefully and quietly took the cloak off. Remus was, as always, the spell caster. While Sirius kept lookout, Remus pointed his wand up to the ceiling, and did the non-verbal charm, _Animonious. _

The effect that took place was miraculous. The hot pink color started in one spot on the ceiling, and carefully and gradually slid down onto the walls and floor. Sirius and Remus didn't stick around to watch it though. They were gone as soon as Remus said the words. They knew that the two of them would be turned that lurid pink if they stayed around. Instead, they snuck out of the office, met up with James, and the three of them had a good laugh in the common room, excited for the coming day.

**Sorry that was so short…I couldn't think of how to lengthen it besides Snape catching them, and I didn't want that to happen! …yet. Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers, and I'll try to update sooner next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello! I'm back! Thank you to all of you who reviewed! Now on with the story!**

"POTTER! BLACK! LUPIN!" Professor Snape ran through the halls amid the many laughs and shouts. His robes, hair, and face had all turned a lurid pink, much to the staff and students' amusement. "It was you! I know it was!"

While the spitting Professor stormed the school looking for the troublemakers, the said three were cracking up, watching from underneath the invisibility cloak.

"This is just too funny," muttered Sirius to James, who was silently snickering.

"You two shouldn't be laughing," Remus reminded them. "He's going to be furious when he finds the three of us."

"Come on, Moony," Sirius chuckled. "Lighten up and laugh at our pink professor."

"I suppose," Remus grinned as Snape started spitting pink spit on some second years.

They couldn't hide forever though. That night, Snape caught up with them next to the sixth floor painting of the French wizard Garfield Grilly.

"There you are," Snape hissed as he came up behind them. They turned around, smiling. Well, Sirius was smiling. Remus and James had the good sense to look a bit nervous.

"Do you three think that this is funny?" Snape yelled in fury, his voice reaching a low growl.

"Yes, _sir,_" Sirius replied cheekily.

"Well then," Snape said, his sneer growing pronounced, "You two will be having a detention tomorrow night with Professor Carrow. Nine o'clock."

"We'll be there," James said with a grin.

Snape nodded curtly to the three boys and departed, his cloak flapping like the bat he was.

Remus turned to his two best friends, a look of astonishment on his face. "You two," he began, "Just mouthed off to the headmaster."

"No," James corrected him. "We mouthed off to Snape. There's a difference."

"Not really," Remus said, growing a bit angry. "Snape isn't a seventeen year old boy that you hex for fun here. He's an adult, one who is most certainly a Death Eater, and _killed _Albus Dumbledore!"

"Oh yeah," Sirius muttered, he and James looking a bit ashamed. "I forgot about that."

"Look," James said. "Why don't we go tell Neville that we're alive and that all we got was a detention?"

Remus and Sirius followed James up to the portrait hole. As they entered, they were pounced upon by the red-head, Ginny, from the DA meeting.

"You three just pulled off one of the biggest pranks I've ever seen." She gaped at them, her eyes wide. "Not even my older brothers could have done that, and they made a swamp in the Charms corridor two years ago."

"Really?" Sirius asked. "We tried that, but McGonagall caught us and put us in detention."

"Speaking of detention," Neville wandered over to where the four of them were talking. "What did Snape say when he caught you?"

"He was really mad," Remus explained. "But all he gave us was a detention with Carrow."

"Carrow?" Neville turned white. "Detention? With Carrow?"

"Yeah, why?" James asked absentmindedly.

"Because my friend Terry Boot in Ravenclaw had a detention with him on Monday," Neville said, looking at them with wide eyes."

"That's right," Ginny took a sharp intake of breath. "They….they…"

"They what?" Sirius demanded. "What happened to this Boot fellow?"

"They preformed the Cruciatus curse on him," Neville whispered.

"Oh, my," Remus stared at his friends, and they stared back, wide-eyed. The three looked back to Neville and Ginny, who were looking at them like they were already picking out the gravesite.

**Ta-da! I hoped you liked it! Next update will be in a few days. Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello all! Thank you to those of you who reviewed, it means a lot. I have a quick question for you- Would you read a Next Generation Time Travel story? I'm thinking about writing one, and I'm wondering if someone besides me would read it, so just tell me if it interests you, okay?**

**Now on with the story!**

"So," Amycus Carrow had a nasty smile on his face as he looked down at the three pale, scared-looking boys. "It's time for detention, eh? I hope you find it…educational."

He snapped his fingers and five large, burly, Slytherin sixth years came out, their wands pointed at the three boys, who were all cowering in fright now.

"Good bye, mates," Sirius whispered. "I think we're going down."

"I'll miss you guys," James muttered.

"Maybe it won't be so bad," Remus said, trying to lighten their spirits.

His two friends looked at him like he was insane.

"The Cruciatus Curse?" Sirius whispered his eyes wide. "Not bad?"

"It'll be a nightmare," James shuddered.

"Enough talk," Carrow sneered. "Detention is beginning."

One hour later, the door to the Dark Arts room opened, and James, Sirius, and Remus stumbled out. They simply lay on the floor for the longest time, until James raised his head and said in a weary, pained voice "We should get back to the tower."

His friends agreed with him, and the three of them trudged onward. All of them were in pain, and the only thing that was making them keep going was the thought of their nice, warm, comfortable beds.

It was lucky for them that Ginny Weasley was coming back from the library at that moment. When she saw the three bruised boys, she quickly came to their rescue.

"Oh, my," she said as she reached them and pulled them to their feet. "You three just had your detention with Carrow, didn't you?"

Remus nodded wearily. The other two either didn't or couldn't move.

"Let me help you guys back to the tower."

As she walked them upstairs, she was looking at Sirius. There was something familiar about him, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Then it clicked.

"You're them, aren't you?" she breathed as they walked steadily up the staircase. "Harry's dad. And Sirius and Professor Lupin."

The three boys were too tired to be astonished with the news that Ginny had figured out their secrets. They just nodded.

"Oh my," she heaved, finding it hard to breathe. "Do you know?" she whispered, still feeling petrified. "What happens?"

Again, the boys just nodded.

"Who else knows?"

"Neville," Sirius muttered. "Snape. Snape might've told some teachers. He could've told his Dark Lord, too."

"Why did Snape let you live, though?" Ginny asked. This was confusing her. "I mean, surely, the way to kill Harry would be through killing his father. But you're alive," she said, looking at James.

"Barely," James muttered, dragging his feet along. "Look, can we discuss this tomorrow? We're dead on our feet."

"Sure," Ginny said as she helped them through the portrait hole. "Good night. Sleep well," she called to their retreating backs on the staircase.

"You, too," Remus called back to her.

But Ginny had collapsed in an armchair and was deep in thought, not sleeping for a long time.


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm back! Sorry if I've kept you waiting. I didn't get many reviews, so maybe I'll make this chapter LONGER. Would that appease you people? Ok, I have two questions for you, and I want you to answer at least one of them.**

**WOULD YOU READ A NEXT GENERATION TIME TRAVEL FANFIC? **

**Do you think that I'm demented (like my friends do) when I bursted out laughing at the end of my book because the last sentence was, "And so I set off to kill the man I loved"? All of my friends think I have mental issues (they're right,) but I am determined to find someone who agrees with me.**

**Now on with the story!**

A few months had passed since that fateful first detention. It was almost Christmas time at Hogwarts, and the decorations were going up. But they weren't normal decorations.

The whole of Hogwarts was a blackened color that looked like it had no life. There were occasional red banners or similar decorations, but everyone knew it was only because it was the color of blood.

Finally, the day that the Hogwarts Express left for Kings Cross rolled around. Our Marauders had been invited to stay at the Longbottoms by Neville because, "No one wants to be around here anymore". And he was quite right.

"This is the first time I've ever said this," Sirius grunted as he helped Neville push his trunk up into the luggage compartment. "I'm glad to be leaving this hellhole."

"I completely agree with you, mate," James said as the four boys sat down. "Hogwarts has never been so gloomy."

"You're absolutely right," said Ginny as she entered, closely followed by the blonde that they now knew as Luna.

"Yes, it is quite depressing," said Luna dreamily as she opened The Quibbler, her father's magazine.

"Well, at least we have a couple weeks away," Neville smiled as he and Remus started a game of Exploding Snap.

Small, amusing games led them through the journey as the train chugged on. Suddenly, it came to an abrupt stop.

"What's going on?" Remus asked.

"Dunno," Neville said with a frown. "We're obviously not there yet," he said, gesturing out the window to the English countryside.

"Who's getting on the train?" James asked, squinting out the window. There were figures in black cloaks coming on board.

"No," breathed Ginny.

"What is it?" Sirius asked anxiously.

"Death Eaters," Neville answered for her.

The three hooded figures that they'd just seen entering came to an abrupt stop at their door. It slid open.

"Luna Lovegood," rumbled a deep voice from under the cloak.

Luna glared at the man with her crystal clear eyes filled with loathing.

"Your father's given us quite a bit of trouble," the voice rang out again.

"As he should," Luna said, holding her ground.

"Not anymore," the man said. The young adolescents could almost see him grinning wickedly. Before anyone could do as much as react, the man had grabbed Luna and whisked her out the door.

"Luna!" Ginny yelled as she tried to get past the other two men with no avail.

"See you later, princess," smirked on of the other men as they left as well.

"Bloody Death Eaters!" Ginny screeched as the train began to move again. "Why did they have to take Luna away!" she ranted in her fury. "Why?"

"Hey," said Sirius putting his arm around her. (*) "It's okay. She'll be alright."

The other boys made moves to comfort her as the train moved onward. But in truth, they were in every bit as shook up as her. What would they do without Luna? She was one of the most prominent members in Dumbledore's Army, and she could always be counted on for anything.

A few hours later, the train came to a halt at Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Ginny waved good bye to her friends as she went to join her mother.

"These are the boys?" Augustus Longbottom said as she peered at them with her hawk-like eyes. "Well, get along then," she smacked Neville with her red hand bag, which reminded the boys of THE SNAPE EPISODE, which Neville had told them about. It was hard for them to keep from cracking up then and there.

And so the four boys and the old woman left the station, having no idea the troubles that awaited them ahead.

**Like it? Please review this time!**

***This is Not Sirius/Ginny. There are no pairings in this fic. He's just comforting his friend.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry, sorry, I know it's been forever! Don't worry though, school will be out soon, and then there will be so many update you won't have time to read them all! I'm exaggerating, but oh well. **

**I'd also like to apologize because I forgot a part of this story: Stealing the sword of Godric Gryffindor. I'll probably portray this in a flashback scene or something. Anyways, thanks for all you wonderful reviewers!**

"Merry Christmas!" Sirius woke James by pouncing on top of the camp bed that Mrs. Longbottom had set up for him.

"Bloody hell, Sirius," James yawned, rubbing his eyes. "You ate way too much chocolate last night."

"Oh well!" Sirius sang, jumping onto Remus's bed as well now. "Wake up, Moony, wake up! It's CHRISTMAS!"

"What are you, five?" James laughed as he put his glasses on. "Morning, Remus."

"Morning," Remus said groggily, shoving Sirius off of him. "Is Neville awake?"

"I am now." Neville sauntered into the room, yawning, still in his pajamas. "Bloody hell, did someone give Sirius sugar again?"

"Yeah, you did," James laughed fondly. "Around three pounds of it."

"Oh well," Neville sighed. "Merry Christmas anyways."

After the four boys were dressed and ready, they headed downstairs to find Mrs. Longbottom listening in rapt attention to the radio.

"What's going on Gran?" Neville questioned.

"Shush, boy!" Augusta whispered. "I'm trying to hear what they're saying."

"Yes, it's a now well known fact that Harry Potter…"

The three Marauders shared a shocked look.

"…and friends were nearly caught last night by The Chief Death Eater."

"Any ideas what they were after in Godric's Hallow, River?" A deeper, but familiar voice answered. The Marauders looked at each other confusedly, but Neville smiled secretly to himself. He'd have to tell them that they had just heard the older Remus talking later.

"Well, Romulus…"

Remus gave his friends a startled look. It was him! That man was him! Who else would choose the name Romulus? **(*)**

"….Reliable sources say that they were after the sword of Godric Gryffindor."

The Marauders and Neville gaped at one another. They knew the sword of Gryffindor only too well.

_-Flashback-_

"_Hey, Neville, Luna, James, Sirius, Remus, hang back a minute!" Ginny called as the DA meeting came to a close. When they had all reached her, she began to speak._

"_I have a plan," she whispered hurriedly. "We need to steal something, steal something big."_

"_What do you propose?" Neville had asked calmly._

"_The sword of Gryffindor."_

_They had stayed after for an hour afterwards, working on how they could do this without being detected. Then, the next Thursday, the plan came into effect._

_James and Sirius were to be the distraction. They started screwing around in the Great Hall, bewitching students and teachers to start, say break dancing or bursting out in song, , like so many of the ingenious pranks they had come up with before. _

_Remus was to be the lookout. He'd stay under the invisibility cloak and keep watch at the entrance to the Headmaster's office. _

_Neville, Ginny, and Luna were to actually do the stealing. On that fateful day, Snape wasn't fooled for one minute by this ploy, and headed straight to his office. Remus had been too late to warn the others, and it had resulted in them getting caught and having a detention with Hagrid. The Marauders, however, were not punished._

_-End Flashback-_

The four boys didn't listen to too much of the rest of the radio program, which they learned later was called Potterwatch. They were too busy standing with their mouths agape. This was big news, very big.

"So," Augusta clapped her hands together with a smile on her usually severe face. "Who wants to open presents?"

**(*) In case you didn't know, Remus and Romulus are supposedly the founders of Rome, which is why Remus assumed it was himself.**

**Thanks for reading, and as soon as school's out, I'll get way more updates in! Review, please! The button is right below you, and if I get a lot of reviews, you might get an update this weekend! (Hint, hint.)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello, all! I thought I'd give you another chapter today for a present. It's my birthday, so present is a good word to use! Thanks for everybody who reviewed!**

"Goodbye, dear," Mrs. Longbottom kissed Neville's cheek. "And goodbye, boys!" She called to Sirius, James, and Remus, who were already onboard. "Don't kill yourselves!"

"Isn't your grandmother morbid?" Remus laughed as he helped Neville put his bag up at the top of the compartment.

"Yeah, I think it's in her nature to do that," Neville laughed as the two of them sat down next to Sirius and James, who were having yet another argument.

"What is it about this time, boys?" Ginny smiled as she walked into the compartment.

"Padfoot thinks that the Chudley Cannons are better than Puddlemere United!" James whined.

"Prongs thinks that the Cannons are pathetic!" Sirius pouted.

"Boys, boys," Ginny said soothingly, almost mothering. "They are both very stupid teams that can't score one goal for the hell of it, so it's really no use fighting!"

Remus and Neville started laughing at the looks on Sirius and James's faces.

"So, how's your family doing, Gin?" Neville asked as Ginny sat down next to him.

"Ok," she said, her mood drooping a little. "Fred and George don't have many customers anymore, though. And we still haven't heard anything from Ron."

Neville sighed, while the Marauders just looked confused. Ginny leaned forward. "Ron's the one with Harry." The three boys' eyes widened. They hadn't remembered this.

The rest of the train ride consisted of talking about the presents they received, or in Sirius's case, talking about all the food they ate. The five adolescents had a fun ride, but it ended all too quickly.

"Potter! Black! Lupin!" Sirius was headed off the train; bag in hand, with James and Remus right behind him when the voice called out. "Come here! Behind the carriages!"

Sirius exchanged a look with James, who shrugged, as if to say "Whatever." The three of them headed over to whoever was the mysterious voice.

It was Professor McGonagall. She looked like she hadn't slept in weeks. Her usual high-in-a-bun hair was messy and tangled, and it sloppily hung around her shoulders. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her eyes were drooping down in exhaustion.

"What happened, Professor?" Remus asked her concernedly, dropping his bag to help her.

"I've been working on this all break," she said hurriedly, searching in her large bag. "It needs to simmer for six months, but other than that it's complete." She handed them a large vial of swirling dark red potion.

"What?" Sirius and James were confused, but Remus gasped.

"I-it's a potion," he managed to get out.

"Well, duh, Remus," Sirius said, annoyed. "Even I could tell that."

"No, you don't understand," he said, choking on his words. "It'll take us back to our time period."

"WHAT?"

"It will get you back home, you idiots," McGonagall hissed. "So hurry along before anyone sees. Oh, and Mr. Lupin?" She called. "I realize that Professor Snape has been making you live through your transformations, and keeping Sirius and James locked up on those nights. Here." She handed Remus another vial, this one full of a murky green concoction. Drink a sip of this in all nights one week before the full moon and head to the Shrieking Shack. Then you'll just turn into a wolf, and still keep your mind."

"Really?" Remus asked, mesmerized.

"Yes, but don't drink too much of it," she warned. "I could hardly convince Slughorn to make that much. Now go!" She shooed them off.

The next day, Neville was with the other three boys in Defense class. Carrow was giving them a lecture.

"So," he said; a nasty grin showing on his face. "If you want to work in the service of The Dark Lord, there are many things that he may command you to do. I suggest that you do them with all skills possible, otherwise he may be upset with you." He showed his yellow, rotting teeth in another one of his disgustingly sinister smiles. "And you know what happens then."

"Yeah, we kill him and run," Sirius muttered to James, who sniggered.

"Think something's funny, do you boy?" Amycus looked down at James menacingly, his wand out.

"Yeah, I do, actually," James looked up at him, not flinching. "I was just thinking about how much you remind me of a big, fat orangutan."

Most of the class burst out laughing, except for a couple of sullen-faced Slytherins with their wands out.

"You asked for it boy," Carrow said with a devilish smirk on his face. He dragged James up to the front of the classroom and shoved him up against the wall. "Mobolicorpus." His spell sounded more like a sneer. Ropes entwined up around James's body until he could no longer move anything but his head.

"And now," Carrow said, walking in front of the classroom again. "We need a volunteer." He made a big show of walking through the desks, looking at each of the students in turn. "Someone who will do the Dark Lord's bidding, to _torture _this foolish young man."

He stopped in front of Neville's desk. "How about you, Longbottom?" Carrow said with his trademark sneer.

Neville looked completely taken aback. Carrow usually picked Slytherins to do the torturing in class. Sirius and Remus shot him scared looks.

"No," Neville said coolly to Amycus. "I will not _do the Dark Lord's bidding _and torture James. I refuse."

James, still immobile in the front of the classroom, visibly relaxed.

"Well, then," Amycus said, eyes narrowing. "I think you have to learn to keep your tongue."

And Carrow took a sharp blade out of his robe pocket and slashed Neville across the face.

**Dun-duh-duh! I expect to have the next chapter up by Thursday, maybe Friday, because my last day of school is Wednesday. I'm sorry that my chapters are so short, but I'm really trying to make this one longer.**

**You know what I want for my birthday? Reviews! It only takes five seconds, and it means a lot! Thanks again to all you readers!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey, everybody. Sorry this is up later than I expected, but I've got things to do. Anyway, here's the chapter! **

"Are you sure that you're all right, Neville?" Remus asked that night in the common room. Neville was applying a watery cloth to his scarred cheek.

"Don't worry, Remus," Neville gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm fine. I'm just worried for James." His expression turned dark.

Carrow had insisted James remain tied up for the rest of class, and then got some willing Slytherins to torture him. Then Carrow had kept him after class. He still hadn't shown up, and it had been over an hour.

"He'll be fine," Sirius said from his place in front of the fire. "James is strong; he can handle whatever Carrow gives him."

As if on cue, James walked through the portrait hole. He looked weary and tired, and was sporting quite a few burns on his arms. His face had a slash mark identical to Neville's.

"James!" The other three boys got up and quickly helped him over to the fire. James still hadn't spoken, and he looked quite ill.

"Are you all right?" Neville asked concernedly. James could only nod.

"Damn, James," Sirius said, running his hands through his dark hair. "This is my entire fault. I was the one who was insulting Carrow, not you."

"It's not your fault, Sirius," Remus assured him. "It's Carrow's, and You-Know-Who's." Remus's expression suddenly became darker, showing more of his wolf side.

"Your absolutely right, Remus," Neville said as he sat up. "In fact, I think it's about time we did something about this awful treatment." His eyes glinted in anticipation as he said his next sentence. "It's time for another meeting of Dumbledore's Army."

**(Should I end it here? Nah…)**

"We will not stand for this any longer!" Ginny yelled. It was Friday night, only three days after that fateful Dark Arts class, that the meeting finally took place. Ginny and Neville were giving a rallying speech.

"It's time to make a statement!" Neville yelled, much to the member's delight by their cheering.

"It's time to do something big," Ginny said a steely look on her face.

And so it was.

"All right," Sirius whispered his wand out. It was about ten minutes later, around eleven o'clock, that the members of the DA had left the Room of Requirement to do their job. What is their job, you ask? Well, let's figure that out.

"You guys ready?" James said, still a bit hoarsely. It had been three days since the Dark Arts incident, and yet he still hadn't fully recovered. It was as if Carrow and his Slytherin cronies had inflicted some deadly disease upon him, one that made him less happy, more, well, _serious._ **(A/N: No pun intended)**

"Ready," Remus grinned.

The three of them took out their wands, and pointed them at the wall, one on the fourth floor, right next to the Muggle Studies classroom.

"_Grafiemn,_" They whispered together moving their wands in a fluid motion. As in the writing on the wall back in Harry's second year, red words appeared on the walls, only not in blood.

_Dumbledore's Army Lives_

"This is going to drive Snape mad," Sirius shivered in anticipation. If possible, his hatred for Severus Snape had grown even worse in their visit to the future.

"Yeah, yeah," Remus said, not really paying attention. He checked his watch. "Hey, guys, time to go back to the common room."

"Not yet, Moony," Sirius smiled, flipping his wand around in his fingers. "Check the Map first."

James slipped the map out of his pocket.

"_I Solemnly Swear that I am up to no Good_," he said quietly, as so not to attract teachers.

The black ink dots spread out around the page as the three boys huddled around it.

"Alecto Carrow is coming this way," Remus said, exchanging a frantic glance with James. "We better get out of here."

"Let's go."

**Too short, wasn't it? I know, I know, but I am trying to make them longer. This one was probably a little shorter, but only because I wanted to get it posted sooner. The next one will definitely be longer, though.**

**Thank you to everybody that reviewed this story or added it to their favorites list. Review please! The more reviews I get, the faster updates come, you know…Thanks again to all you readers!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Another chapter up! Here you are, and thanks to all of the reviewers!**

Every other night throughout January and February, and even a bit of March, Dumbledore's Army headed off to do their graffiti. Sometimes they happened to come across a kid who had been tortured by the Carrows. They always helped him or her out. But now it was time for the Easter holidays. It was the last day before classes ended, and the Army's last night to do their duties was fast approaching.

"Come on, we should get classes off today," Sirius whined as he and James headed towards the Muggle Studies room.

"Why, exactly?" James asked, just to humor Sirius.

"Just because." That was Sirius's answer for most things. Just because.

"Guys, over here!" Neville called from the corner seat, where Remus was already sitting next to him. Sirius sauntered over and took the seat between them. James slid into the spot next to Neville.

"So, is Carrow here yet?" James whispered.

"Nah," Neville muttered back. "The bells already rang, and it doesn't look like she's coming."

But then she came, just a second after Neville finished his sentence.

"So," she said, in the nasty tone that she and her brother both possessed. "Today we're going to talk about how Muggles are filthy, disgusting creatures that should bow down to us in worship or die."

James zoned out for awhile, occasionally catching snippets of words, such as "Muggles", "kill", "Cruciatus", and "Filthy".

Then James was brought back with an unpleasant thump. Carrow had started speaking about Muggle-Borns.

"So, in other words, Mudbloods are really Muggles with stolen magic, and they should all either be in prison or put to death." She sneered.

James gripped his wand under his seat. Lily was a Muggle-Born! How dare this woman…

"So," she said, yet again. James figured that she couldn't find any other word to put there, so she just kept saying the same thing. "Mudbloods are dirty and nasty creatures."

"Excuse me?" James heard Neville say from next to him. Carrow whirled around to face him.

"Yes," she said, approaching the desk. "Longbottom?"

"I was just wondering," Neville began, and James put his head in his hands. Neville was going to give some smart-arse comment that would give him another reason to bleed. "How much Muggle blood you and your brother have?"

The class was stunned silent by Neville's comment. Alecto Carrow's face twisted into a gruesome shape, and she took her knife out, one identical to her brother's, and took Neville by his robes out of the classroom.

James crossed his fingers under the desk. _Please let Neville be okay, please let Neville be okay…_

And the door opened. Alecto stalked in first, a grim smile set upon her ugly features. Neville stumbled in after her. His face was extremely bloody, James noted. Remus quickly got up from his seat to help Neville sit down. But then Carrow opened her disgusting mouth and began to speak again.

"This is what happens when you cheek the teacher," she sneered to them. "Longbottom also has a detention with my brother, Professor Carrow."

The rest of class went by in a blur. Afterwards, the three Marauders helped Neville into the common room. It was very quiet that night, but not in the morning.

Augusta Longbottom was taking the Marauders again, so on the train they were all seated together, even Ginny. Then the paper came out.

James had gone to get the Prophet while the others were seated in the compartment. James came rushing back a moment later, all out of breath.

"What is it, James?" Sirius asked. He was in the middle of a game of Exploding Snap with Remus.

James showed them the headlines.

**HARRY POTTER ALMOST CAPTURED BY HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED**

"Oh my," Ginny whispered. She took the paper, and began to read aloud.

_Harry Potter, age 17, was almost captured by the Dark Lord and his followers. Potter and his two accomplices, now known as Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, (Mudblood), were captured by Death Eaters outside of the small town of Verity, in Wales. They were taken to the Dark Lord's base of operation, where they were recognized. The Dark Lord was not there, but some of his Chief Death Eaters were. _

_Potter and his friends, Weasley and Granger, managed to escape with the help of a house-elf. They also took with them some of the Dark Lord's prisoners, along with Mudblood Dean Thomas and a goblin._

_The members of the Death Eaters present at this time are now confined to the house for failing their master. _

"Do you know what this means?" Neville whispered after they had finished reading.

"What?" Remus breathed. He was still having trouble digesting all of this.

"That now Ginny isn't safe," Neville said with a glance at his friend.

"You're right1" Ginny sat bolt upright. "You four have to hide me. After we get to the station, take me home with you. I can Floo to my house from there."

"Alright," James said. And the five of them made their plan to get Ginny out of there. It would be difficult, but with the Marauders there, what could go wrong?


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey, so I'm back! Sorry for the long delay. I'd like make announcement though…**

**WE HAVE REACHED FIFTY REVIEWS!**

**Thank you to everybody that submitted a review in. It means a lot. I'd like to give a special shout-out to the fiftieth reviewer, dopey4dobby! Thanks so much! I'd also like to mention my first reviewer, StarKid McFly! Thanks to you, too. Now on with the chapter!**

If you can remember correctly, the Marauders, Neville, and Ginny have just figured out that Ginny's brother Ron has been discovered as one of Harry Potter's accomplices and they need to smuggle her off the train. If you can't remember correctly, Neville just threw a birthday party for Remus, but Sirius ate all the cake. Let's hope you can remember correctly. **(*)**

"So," James said. "The Death Eaters may come on the train, just like they did for Luna. We need to be prepared for that."

Ginny nodded her head. She looked calm, but everyone could tell that there was immense fear under her façade.

"And then we'll need to get her onto the platform," Remus pointed out. "We can't very well hide her there."

"Good point," Neville muttered, waving his wand about at random.

They were all silent for a few moments, until Sirius made an interruption. (Wow, who could have guessed?)

"I got it!" he cried triumphantly.

"What?" Remus asked, looking at him a bit exasperatedly. Most of Sirius's ideas ended with a certain victim (usually Snape) trapped in some kind of inescapable bubble. As Remus so often had to point out, there was no such so spell. Sirius usually ignored that.

"We need to shrink Ginny!" Sirius grinned as if he had just found out all the secrets of the world.

"Did I here you right?" Neville asked, looking at Sirius oddly.

"No, really!" Sirius said when everyone looked at him blankly. "We shrink Ginny so she'll fit in one of her pockets, and then we'll carry her around 'til we can get back to Neville's place and reverse it!"

"In no way will I be put in one of you four's pockets," Ginny said, staring at Sirius with an expression mixed between exasperation and….well, more exasperation.

"Come on!" Sirius whined. "It's a great idea! Right, guys?" He looked hopefully over at Neville, Remus, and James.

"Sirius, mate, that's crazy," Neville said, wondering how on earth Remus and James had survived with him all these years.

"Sirius, that's your worst idea yet, and I haven't forgotten your suggestion of stuffing all the Slytherins' mouths with toilet paper," Remus said incredulously.

"Padfoot, even I know that something like that will never work," James said, shaking his head.

"Well _I_ thought it was a good idea," Sirius grumbled.

"Which is why we know it's a bad idea," Ginny grinned. The boys roared in laughter, sans Sirius, who was still pouting.

"Anyone have a halfway decent suggestion?" James asked.

They all pondered this for a moment. Then Neville snapped his fingers. "I got it," he said, sounding excited.

"What?" Ginny leaned forward, anxious for an idea that came from a mouth other than the one belonging to the dim-witted Padfoot.

"Undetectable Extension Charm," Neville said, sounding excited.

James, Sirius, and Ginny looked at him blankly, but Remus looked excited now as well.

"That's brilliant, Neville," Remus said, grinning ear to ear.

"Will someone please enlighten us on what that is?" James asked, indicating himself, Sirius, and Ginny.

"We can expand one of our trunks to fit over twenty tons of objects," Remus said. "We could put Ginny in there and no one would be the wiser."

"I like it," James said, smiling now.

"I still like my idea better," Sirius said, still a bit grumpily. "But I admit, that's pretty good."

Everyone turned to Ginny for confirmation. It was her they were talking about, after all.

"Well," she began, tilting her head. "It's better than Sirius's idea. Will I be smashed in with all that other stuff?"

"No, there'll be plenty of room," Neville said. "We should do it now, though, just in case the Death Eaters come by."

James and Sirius kept watch while Remus performed the spell on his trunk. The suitcase glowed a soft orange before returning to normal.

"Here," Neville took Ginny's arm and helped her step into the trunk. Soon enough, her entire body had disappeared from view.

"You all right in there?" Sirius called into the suitcase, which would have looked a bit ridiculous if anyone else was watching.

"Just fine," Ginny's muffled voice came out of it. "This ride better go fast."

The Death Eaters never showed up on the train, much to the relief of the four boys. But trouble arose as they exited the train onto the platform.

There were between forty and fifty hooded figures there when Remus stepped off the platform, clutching onto his trunk that contained Ginny.

At once, one of them was upon him and his friends.

"Where is Ginny Weasley?" the voice hissed. Remus was pretty sure it was male, but it could have been a woman.

"No clue!" Remus did his best to look surprised. "Why do you want her?"

"Check the Prophet, boy," the voice hissed and shoved Remus aside to question Sirius.

Remus was puzzled, however, by this Death Eater's obvious stupidity. He thought that the Death Eater would force him to take Veritiserum, at the very least! Maybe he (or she) was just particularly dimwitted. Or maybe….maybe it was something else.

"That was easy," Neville muttered to Remus as they all regrouped after the questionings were done.

"I know," Remus muttered back. "I thought we were goners."

"Well, let's get this suitcase back to my house," Neville said with a grin. "I think it wants to be opened."

Remus grinned back as they ran through the brick wall.

Augusta Longbottom greeted them on the other side. The four boys, (And Ginny, in Remus's suitcase) quickly hurried to Neville's house with her. Along the way, Neville explained the situation to his grandmother. She nodded curtly to show she understood. Then they finally arrived.

"Alright," Mrs. Longbottom said. "Where's Ms. Weasley?"

"In here," Ginny's angry voice came out of Remus's trunk. "Get me out of this bloody bag before I throttle someone."

"Here," Neville laughed. He reached his hand into the bag and Ginny emerged, looking shaken and tired, but there, and completely intact.

"Now how do I get to my parents?" Ginny asked her usually soft brown eyes wide with fear. "They can't be at the Burrow, because the Death Eaters would have looked there first."

They all thought for a moment before Augusta asked a question.

"Ginny, do you have any close family that your parents would stay with at this time?" Mrs. Longbottom asked curiously.

"Well," Ginny pondered. "We've got a ton of cousins on my Dad's side, but I can't imagine we'd stay with them. No, it would have to be someone with a big house to fit us all in. Hmmm…"

Then she snapped her fingers. "Auntie Muriel!"

"Who?" James asked a bit blankly.

"My crabby old aunt on my mother's side. She'd be the perfect one to stay with!"

Ginny hurried over to the fireplace. She grabbed a bit of Floo Powder and tossed in the flames. "Muriel Prewett's home!" she called into it. The flames turned bright green.

Ginny turned around. "Thanks, guys, for protecting me in the station. And thank you, Mrs. Longbottom, for helping as well."

Then she turned specifically to the Marauders. "I may never see you three again, so there's something I should tell you." She grinned. "James, your son Harry is my boyfriend."

And with that, she disappeared into the fireplace.

**And done! Review, please!**


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long! It's been busy, and I've also been kinda lazy…oh well. This chapter might be a little short and rushed, because I leave for camp tomorrow and have to leave at SIX O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING. So this chapter probably won't be all that great. Sorry.**

**Disclaimer: Yes, I own Harry Potter. I would like to point out that I tend to use sarcasm.**

"I can't believe that Ginny is going out with my son," James said, shaking his head in disbelief for the millionth time.

"Hey, at least he's not going out with some Slytherin cow," Sirius said with a grin.

The two boys were on the Hogwarts Express, getting ready to go back to the school. They were accompanied by Remus and Neville, who were holding back laughter at James' expense.

"Well I for one can't believe that we have to go back to Hogwarts," Remus groaned. "It feels like Easter only lasted four days."

"Because it did," Neville reminded him, laughing.

The four boys spent a very enjoyable train ride playing Exploding Snap (Or Exploding Snape, as Sirius had dubbed it.) But the ride came to an end all too soon.

"Well, here we are again," James sighed, jumping out of their compartment with his trunk in hand.

"Yeah, Easter break was way too short," Neville sighed.

"Hey, aren't we supposed to-" But Sirius was cut short by a high-pitched scream coming from the other side of the train. He whipped around, wand out, and started racing in the direction of the sound, his friends hurrying behind him.

The four boys came upon a group of people gathered around Amycus Carrow, who was holding a first year boy (Sirius thought that he might be in Hufflepuff) by the scruff of his neck.

"Professor Carrow!" McGonagall had arrived at the scene. She looked very disheveled, her eyes with dark purple bags underneath them. "What on earth are you doing?"

"This little runt," Carrow kicked the little boy in the shins, "was saying things he shouldn't've been saying."

"What do you mean?" McGonagall asked. Her voice had a dangerous edge to it.

"He said that Harry Potter was going to come to save them from the Dark Lord," Carrow sneered. "Potter will soon be dead, boy." This was directed at the first year. "And the Dark Lord will command everything."

"Professor, I demand you stop this treatment at once!" McGonagall cried shrilly. "You cannot hurt a first year student like this!"

Carrow's face turned dark. "Who said I couldn't?" His face held an ugly sneer. "This boy has done things worthy of the Cruciatus Curse, but luckily for him, I won't be doing that."

The crowd held its breath, waiting for the verdict.

"I think," Carrow smiled with his yellow, rotting teeth showing, "that I shall chain him in the fourth floor corridor for the night. To teach him not to say things like this again."

The crowd started to disperse. Carrow took the boy up to the castle, holding his robes so that they were stretching to a breaking point.

"I can't believe that they're doing something like this to a first year," Remus said miserably. "How about a little mercy?"

"They're Death Eaters," Neville said darkly. "They don't know the meaning of the word mercy."

"Neville." Two Ravenclaws in their year had shown up. One of them was looking at Neville with a desperate plea in his eyes.

"What is it, Michael, Anthony?" Neville asked.

"We want to free that kid," the first boy, Michael, said.

"Well, of course we have to," Neville said, almost impatiently. "But I don't know if I'll specifically be sending you…"

He was cut off by Anthony. "That kid is Michael's little brother," he explained. "If anyone has a right to do help him, we do."

"Alright," Neville muttered back to him. "But be careful."

"We will," Anthony said, Michael nodding along with him.

"Good luck," Neville nodded in farewell.

"Do you think they can do it?" James muttered to Neville as they walked back up to the castle.

"I hope so."

~*%~*%~*%~*%~%*%*~%*~%*~*%~%*~%*~%*~%*~%**~%~*%~%*

The next day, the Dark Arts class came around. The boys were all still worried about Michael and Anthony, as they hadn't heard what had happened yet. Their question was answered as they walked into the classroom to find Carrow holding up Michael, just as his brother before him, by the scruff of his neck.

"Corner has done some bad things," Carrow growled as they all sat down in their seats. "He is about to be punished for those. Nott, come up here."

A stringy Slytherin in their year walked to the front of the classroom, as wand held out.

"Give this boy a taste of our displeasure," Carrow hissed to Nott.

Nott nodded, face set. "Crucio!"

Michael's face contracted and he broke into screams and writhing in pain. Sirius winced internally. Michael looked so weak. Finally, a few seconds later, Nott took his wand away as Michael regained his consciousness in short, gasping breaths.

"Good!" Carrow cried, delighted. "Now let's give him the full throttle."

Carrow himself stepped towards Michael, but instead of holding a wand, he held a knife. Sirius closed his eyes, not wanting to see this.

The screams came a mere second later. The shrieks of agony, the bellows of pain beyond pain…finally, Carrow stopped. Sirius opened his eyes a crack. Carrow was standing over Michael, whose face was a bloody mess.

"Go sit down," Carrow snarled, kicking Michael in the shins.

"I hope you've learned your lesson," he sneered.

~*%~*%~*%~*%~*%~*%~*%

Sirius was sitting with James and Remus in the common room later that evening, quietly conversing about what had happened in the Dark Arts lessons. Suddenly, Neville burst through the portrait hole, running as fast as he could towards where the boys were seated.

"What is it, Neville?" Remus asked him as he reached them. "Are you alright?"

"No," Neville panted, "None of us are."

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"I overheard the Carrows…they were talking about the four of us," Neville said, regaining his breath. "They were saying how much of a trouble we've been with all of our stuff with the DA."

"And?" Sirius said, feeling apprehensive.

"They're going for my gran," Neville said.

"What?" Sirius said in disbelief.

"They're going after her," Neville said, shaking slightly.

"But she's no match for Death Eaters!" Sirius moaned.

"Actually," Neville said with a wry smile, "The Death Eaters are no match for her. But that's not what I'm worried about."

"What is it?" Remus asked.

"They're coming for_ us, _too," Neville said, looking Sirius straight in the eye. "Now."

**Was that any good? Review, please!**


	17. Chapter 17

**So sorry for the long time between updates! But school just started yesterday, so I won't have nearly enough time in my day to do everything. I'll try and update at least once every couple of weeks. But we're getting to the Battle! Are you as excited as I am? **

**Thanks to my reviewers, especially StarKid McFly. All of your reviews make me feel so great. **

**Disclaimer: Yes, I own the Harry Potter series. I also live on Neptune where I own a farm filled with space cows. **

_We need a place to hide, where no Carrows or Carrow supporters will be able to get in. We need a place to hide; we need a place to hide…_

Remus' eyes were shut tight as he concentrated on these thoughts. The four boys had grabbed the Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map before rushing down two flights of stairs to the Room of Requirement.

"The door's open," Neville announced a moment later. Remus opened his eyes to see James turning the golden door handle and pushed the door open.

As Remus entered the room, his eyes widened in amazement. It was much better than he expected. Hammocks with the Gryffindor logo, along with Gryffindor hangings, were strewn across the room. There were a few cushy chairs here and there as well.

"This is great," James marveled as he sat himself down in one of the hammocks. "We should be able to stay in here for awhile without having to leave for anything at all."

"Definitely," Sirius grinned.

_**A Day and a Half Later**_

"I'm starving!" Sirius moaned, clutching his stomach.

"We've heard that comment six times in the past minute, Padfoot," Remus said tiredly, looking at his friend.

"Why can't we conjure food?" Sirius groaned.

"Didn't Remus explain this to you yesterday?" Neville said from his spot in the corner. "Food is one of the Five Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration."

"Then why can't we use those coin thingies to contact Hannah or Susan?" Sirius dropped his head into his hands. He was speaking of the golden Dumbledore's Army coins that the DA used to contact one another.

"It's too risky," James said patiently. He was the only one who wasn't fed up with Sirius' complaints yet. "We don't want to endanger anyone else."

"Then why won't the room supply some?"

"We don't know," Remus said miserably.

"YOU DON'T KNOW!" Sirius screamed at the top of his lungs. "MERLIN, REMUS DOESN'T KNOW SOMETHING! IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!"

"Shut up, Padfoot," Remus said, exasperated.

"I'm going to make the room give us food," Sirius announced.

"Good luck," James snorted.

And with that, Sirius stood up on the chair he had been sitting in and cleared his throat loudly.

"Ahem! Room!" He called out loudly. "I'd like something to eat. Just something small is fine. I really don't care. Although," He added thoughtfully. "Some kidney pie and Butterbeer would be highly appreciated!"

The four waited a moment. Nothing happened.

"See, Sirius?" Neville sighed. "No food."

No sooner had he finished saying that than a door began to carve itself from the wall to the left of Remus. When the carving was done, the door slid open revealing a dark, musty-smelling passageway.

"Look at that, Moony!" Sirius smiled at the door, jumping up and down in anticipation. "_Look at that_!"

"You made a door appear," Remus said with a wry smile. "Congratulations. Now let's see if it leads to food."

"It will," Sirius said, walking through the doorway. "I know it will. Lumos."

Sirius's wand tip ignited and the four of them crept along the passage, glancing casually along to make sure there weren't any unforeseen opposing forces.

I few minutes later, the four boys came across a door.

"Well?" Neville said. "Shall we go through?"

"Don't see the harm," James shrugged.

Sirius pushed open the door to reveal a brightly lit room with a wooden table directly opposite them and another door to their right. The room was bare other than that.

Remus took a tentative step out of their little doorframe into the room, the other three close behind him. When they had all hopped out, Remus shut the door. Where their little passage was hidden was a portrait of a girl of eleven or twelve with long, brownish-blonde hair and fair blue eyes.

"Where are we?" Sirius whispered.

"I don't know," James breathed back to him.

"OI!" A voice rang out from behind them. "What're you four doing in my back room?"

The boys whirled around and found themselves looking at a tall man that looked to be around seventy or eighty years old with a wild, long gray beard and electric blue eyes. He looked thunderous.

"Are you Death Eaters?"

"No, sir," Remus began. "We're students at Hogwarts. The teachers were after us for misbehavior and we…er…hid ourselves," he said lamely.

"And then," James picked up where Remus left off. "We couldn't access food where we were and wished for food to arrive and a passageway opened up behind your picture frame." He gestured at the portrait of the girl.

The man looked at them for a moment. Remus held his breath, wondering if he believed them. Finally…

"What would you like to eat?" He said, his crinkly face breaking out into small smile.

"Kidney pie and Butterbeer!" Sirius said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Please," Remus added in, glaring at Sirius for not showing manners. "If you don't mind me asking, who are you?"

"Aberforth," the man grunted, rummaging through a cupboard. "Aberforth…well, I prefer not to use my last name."

"Fair enough," Sirius said. "I prefer not to use mine, either."

"What is it?" Aberforth asked casually as he set out four butterbeers, which each of the boys grabbed hungrily.

"Black," Sirius made a face.

"Ah," Aberforth said, surprise showing on his face. "I suppose you'd be related to Sirius, then?"

"Actually, I am Sirius," Sirius said with a smile.

"What? How's that possible?" Aberforth dropped a wine glass, which shattered immediately. "Sirius died two years ago, and he was in his thirties, not seventeen."

"Time travel is a very interesting subject," Remus said as he took a swig of butterbeer.

"Time travel? Quite unusual," Aberforth frowned. "And the rest of you? Are you from the past as well?"

"We are," James said, indicating Remus and himself. "James Potter, nice to meet you."

"Harry Potter's father?" Aberforth's eyes went wide. "Well, I suppose you do look quite like him," he said, surveying James, particularly his messy hair.

"And I'm Remus Lupin," Remus added in.

"Lupin?" Aberforth glanced up. "Nice fellow. Always stopped by for a drink when he was a teacher up at the school. Made time to talk to me each time as well… And you?" He asked, directing his question at Neville.

"I'm just a boring old person from the present," Neville smiled. "Neville Longbottom."

"Longbottom?" Aberforth's face darkened. "Your parents Alice and Frank?"

"Yeah," Neville frowned, eyes downcast.

"Pity," Aberforth shook his head. He cleared his throat loudly. "Anyways, here's your kidney pie." He handed them each steaming plates of the delicious food.

"Thank you so much, sir," Remus said, taking a bite.

"Yesh, t'ank 'oo," Sirius mumbled, mouth stuffed with food.

"Just stop by if you need more," Aberforth waved them out the passage.

"Thanks, Aberforth," Neville said as they retreated down the passageway.

"Anytime."

**Review? **


	18. Chapter 18

**I am so sorry! I know it's been far too long. I feel so bad…but I hope you're still here, whoever you are. Thanks for all my reviews.**

"NEVILLE! REMUS! JAMES! SIRIUS!"

A loud voice was ringing through the halls, drawing the attention of the four boys sitting in the Room of Requirement.

"What idiot is that?" Sirius hissed, as the four congregated next to the door, pressing their ears to it in apprehension. "He could draw attention to us."

"It sounds like…" Neville strained to hear the voice still ricocheting off of the walls of the hall outside their little safe haven. "Seamus!"

Neville opened the door a crack. "Seamus!" James heard him hiss. "Seamus! We're in here!"

They heard footsteps clattering outside in the hall, and a sudden clambering as a new figure entered through the doorway. It was Seamus, all right. But it didn't look anything like the Seamus they knew.

The boy's face was completely red and looked like it had been bleeding recently. One eye looked like it was swollen shut, the other eye black, and he had a fat lip.

"Seamus…" James said in wonderment at the other boy's appearance. "What happened?"

"The Carrows," Seamus said, breathing heavily. "I only just got away. They came after me now, too." He looked up at the four of them. "There might be a few more coming…I'm not sure."

"It's fine," Remus reassured him. "Look, why don't you lay down for a bit? You look dead on your feet."

"Yeah," Seamus said, breathing heavily. "I think maybe I will…"

Remus helped Seamus into a hammock. He fell asleep almost immediately.

"This is terrible," James muttered. "The Carrows are going after even more people? This keeps getting worse and worse."

As if on cue, the door to the Room opened again. This time, the Marauders and Neville were graced with the appearance of Hannah, who had a diagonal cut on her face that was bleeding freely. She too seemed out of breath as Seamus had.

"Hannah!" Neville reached a hand out to steady her, afraid she'd fall over. "Are you all right? What happened?"

"Carrows…" She whispered shakily. "Only just got away…Susan. Is she here?" Hannah looked up, eyes wide with fear. "Is she?"

"Not yet," Neville said. A small sob escaped Hannah's lips. "But it's okay, I'm sure that she'll show up soon. Come on, let's get you into bed."

As Neville helped Hannah into a hammock next to Seamus's, the three Marauders waited by the door. They waited- waited for the Carrows's next victim to arrive.

They didn't have long to wait. Only ten minutes after Hannah had shown up, Susan crashed through the door, sobbing erratically. She looked uninjured- only shaken up.

"C'mon, Susan," Remus said softly, taking a gentle hold on Susan's arm. "Let's go lay down. Hannah's here- she wanted to see you. But she's asleep now- you can see her when she wakes up."

"Thank you," Susan whispered hoarsely. "The Carrows are going after Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein soon- they've been causing even more trouble since you went into hiding."

"We'll see to it that no harm comes to them," Remus said firmly. "Here, let's sit down. I'm sure you'll be alright- just rest for a bit."

Susan smiled at him before she nodded off into sleep.

Remus returned to where James, Sirius, and now Neville were standing. "Susan says that Anthony Goldstein and Michael Corner are next on the list. I should go and warn them."

"That's okay, Remus, I'll go," Neville said, standing up, only to be pulled firmly back down by Remus.

"You stay here," Remus said firmly. "Your friends need you. Besides, you're better at healing than I am."

"Okay," Neville smiled. "But only because someday you'll be my Professor Lupin and I'll owe you one."

Remus grinned at him…but Sirius interrupted.

"What about us?" Sirius asked, indicating himself and James. "We can go with you." James nodded in assent.

"It's really only a one-man job," Neville pointed out to them. "Besides, there won't be room under the cloak for all three of you plus Michael and Anthony."

"Fine," James grumbled. "We'll stay and help the others."

"Good plan," Remus smiled. "Don't worry; I'll be back before you know it."

Remus cursed inwardly. After a half hour of scouring the castle for any signs of Michael or Anthony, he hadn't gotten any farther than he had when he first left the Room of Requirement. Maybe they'd gotten tipped off by someone else and were already up in the Room.

"Where are they?" Remus heard a voice snap from down the hall. Remus took a moment to regain his composure- the voice belonged to Alecto Carrow.

"I don't know, I've seen no sign of either of them." That voiced belonged to Amycus.

"Never mind it," Alecto snapped to her brother. "We'll come across them eventually."

The voices of the two most hated Professors at school drifted out of Remus's hearing range. He cursed again- limited time to find the two Ravenclaw boys. He supposed he'd check back in with James and Sirius- the Carrows couldn't find the pair of them, so maybe they'd disappeared into the Room already.

As Remus made his way up the stairs to the fifth floor, he heard something else peculiar. A hushed conversation of what sounded like two males. Remus was only able to make them out because of his extra keen sense of hearing- it came with being a werewolf.

"Shh…someone's coming up the stairs."

"I don't see anyone," a new voice said.

"That doesn't mean that they're not there, so shut up and keep your head down!"

Remus was suddenly on the alert. That was Michael and Anthony, he was sure of it! Now to just get them to the Room of Requirement…

Remus stepped very quietly up to the next stair, and the ones coming after. When he reached the top of the staircase, he saw the two boys in question huddled together in a dark corner.

"Michael! Anthony!" He hissed at them.

The two boys looked around wildly. "Who's there?" Anthony half-whispered. "Who's out there?"

It was only then that Remus remembered he was wearing James's invisibility cloak. "It's me, Remus," he whispered, pulling the cloak off slowly.

"Remus!" Michael and Anthony were suddenly at his side. "What's going on?"

"I'm here to take you to the Room of Requirement," Remus whispered back. "Now get under here."

"You have an Invisibility Cloak?" Michael gasped.

"It's James's," Remus hissed. "Now get under- everyone's waiting."

The three boys tip-toed back to the Room while under the Cloak's cover. Remus located the golden handle that signified the entrance, and gave it a slight shove. The door opened to reveal Sirius's anxious face. Remus, Michael, and Anthony stepped through the room and Remus slid the cloak off as the door closed behind them.

"Thank Merlin you three are all right," Sirius breathed a sigh of relief as James and Neville came up behind him.

"Everything went well?" Neville asked. "No hitches?"

Remus began explaining the details of what happened during his momentary absence to Neville. James and Sirius struck up a conversation with Michael and Anthony, and for a while, all seemed as normal.

But real life struck again and again in the next few weeks. More and more members of the DA entered the Room of Requirement, seeking refuge from the Carrows. Countless healing spells had to be performed on the more serious cuts the Carrows's knives had inflicted.

Neville also received a letter from his grandmother- it appeared that she had escaped Voldemort's Death Eaters unharmed. In fact, it stated that Dawlish was now in St. Mungo's. Neville was so pleased- in the letter, his grandmother had complimented him, saying that he was his father's son and to keep it up. The Marauders were happy, too- they knew Frank would be proud of Neville.

But before long, May the 2nd rolled around. And we all know what that means.


	19. Author's Note

**Bet you got all excited just to see a stupid author's note, huh?**

**Anyway, I just wanted to apologize for my lack of updates. I'm really trying, but I recently had finals, and…well, if you've had them, you'd understand. Just know that the next chapter IS coming. In the next week, I promise. If I have time, maybe tomorrow. **

**Just please know I haven't given up the story. I promise, an update will be here shortly! **

**Thanks to everyone who has put up with my long waits between updates. I WILL update, I promise.**

**~WW**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello! Again, sorry for the wait…thanks to my readers!**

The day dawned innocently enough. All of the miscreants in the Room of Requirement slept far past usual hours. ('We don't have to go to class so what's the point?' Sirius pointed out.) James went through the Hog's Head Passage to get food from Aberforth around noon. It was not until six o'clock in the evening when something out of the ordinary happened.

James and Remus were playing a game of Exploding Snap (Or 'Exploding Snape' as James dubbed it), when there was a knock on the door.

"Who is that?" Remus asked, curious. "Most of the members of the DA are in here."

"It's not coming from out here!" Seamus called from the doorway. It seemed that he, too, wanted to check it out.

"Then where's it coming from?" Neville wondered aloud.

"It's the passage to the Hog's Head!" Remus jumped up and hurried over to the door.

"Could it be a trap?" Sirius wandered over to where Remus was standing.

"It could be," Neville looked troubled. "I'll open it to see. Stand back!" he called to the members, who all followed his commands.

The door creaked open at Neville's touch.

"What is that?" James breathed. "Is it a ghost?"

There was a faded outline of a young girl standing in front of them. She was wearing a blue and white button-down dress and had long blonde hair.

"That's the picture outside the entryway to the Hog's Head," Remus remembered.

"Can we trust her?" Neville cocked his head. "Aberforth could have sent her to us."

As if an answer to his question, the girl breathed. "Come. Harry's here."

Neville glanced behind him. Obviously, no one but he, James, Remus, and Sirius had heard, otherwise they'd be celebrating, not huddled against the back wall.

James, on the other hand, looked stark white. _His son was here? _

"Listen," Neville said in an undertone to the three boys. They leaned in closer to him. "I'm going to listen to her. But it could still be a trap, so I want you three to come and follow me through the tunnel, just in case."

"Yeah," Remus said. "We can do that. You know, if James closes his mouth."

James was gaping like a fish. When he realized this, he quickly shut his mouth. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Okay, everyone," Neville addressed the rest of the DA. "I'm going into the tunnel with James, Remus, and Sirius. "Stay here and be prepared for something to come out, just in case"

So no one else could here, Neville leaned in to whisper to Seamus. "Contact Ginny, Luna, and the rest of the old DA members. Then tell them to tell the Order of the Phoenix that Harry's here."

Seamus stared at him in wonderment. "Harry's here?"

"That's what the girl says," Neville said, still whispering. "Don't tell anyone, just in case it's a false alarm, but if he's really here, maybe we can throw Snape and the Carrows out of Hogwarts."

"Okay," Seamus's face split into a grin.

"C'mon," Neville jerked his head at the Marauders as he walked back to the tunnel. "Hurry up and put the Cloak on." James draped the Cloak over himself and his friends.

They crept through the tunnel until they reached the entryway to Aberfoth's pub. "You ready?" Neville whispered into what any bystander would think was thin air.

"Yeah, hurry up!" Sirius's impatient voice rang through the hall. "I want to see Prongs's kid!"

Neville opened the door. "Harry! Ron! Hermione!"

James, Sirius, and Remus crept forward, still under the cloak. As they saw what was before them, each and every one of them gaped.

There was a boy there that looked exactly like James. Down to a tee. He was hugging Neville at the moment, and when Neville moved on to hug Harry's friends, they got a better look at him. Good enough to see his eyes. Lily's eyes.

"Guess you really do marry Evans, Prongs," Sirius whispered, nudging James under the cloak.

"Hey, Aberforth, there might be a few more people coming through," Neville was telling the bartender.

"But the Caterwauling Charm!" Aberforth protested.

"And that's while they'll come directly in here," Neville said. "Just send them through the passage."

"You're lucky I like you, kid," Aberforth mumbled

"Oh, and, erm, Harry…" Neville began. "There's a few people here who'd like to meet you."

"Meet me?" Harry looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"You lot can come out," Neville called to the Marauders.

Sirius ripped the cloak off of them, much to James's displeasure. He didn't think he could handle meeting his son.

"Hi, Prongs Jr.!" Sirius waved to Harry.

Harry looked at them. Then to Neville . And then to them. And back to Neville. "What the bloody hell?" Harry asked.

"They time-traveled," Neville explained. "Back at the beginning of the year."

"Who is it, Harry?" the girl called Hermione asked.

"M-my dad, Sirius, and Professor Lupin," Harry whispered.

The redhead (probably Ron) looked shocked. "Weird!" he said, walking over and looking closer at the three. "If I didn't know better, I'd think Lupin was never a kid."

"Well, thanks," Remus said sarcastically. "I feel so touched."

"Weird!" Ron said again.

"When you're done inspecting us?" Sirius said impatiently. Ron immediately stepped back looking sheepish.

"James, you haven't said anything yet," Neville said anxiously. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah," James got out. "Fine. Just not every day you see your kid the same age as you."

"Or your dad the same age as you," Harry glanced at Neville. "You could have warned me, you know."

"It would have been less entertaining that way," Sirius waved an impatient hand. "The expression on your face? _Priceless." _

"So, how about we head back to Hogwarts?" Neville suggested. "You can see everyone else, and more people will be coming soon."

"Why are more people coming?" Hermione asked. She, obviously, was not as flustered by the people from the past here.

"Isn't it obvious? Now that you're here, we're going to drive off the Carrows!" Sirius said.

"No, that's not what we're doing," Harry said. "We have to find – something – and then get out."

"What do you need to find?" Remus asked.

"Nothing," Hermione said quickly, giving Harry a glance as she did. "We can't tell you."

"Look, let's go back to Hogwarts and then we can talk about this with everyone else," Neville said.

The group made their way through the passage.

"This isn't on the Marauders Map," Harry said, glancing at his father, Sirius, and Remus as he did.

"You have our map?" Sirius said gleefully. "Excellent."

"It formed a couple weeks ago when the Carrows started coming after us," Neville told them. "Almost all of the DA is hiding in the Room of Requirement."

"They're part of the DA?" Harry asked, gesturing to the Marauders.

"Of course," Remus said. "You think we'd sit back and watch the Carrows torture people?"

"They torture people?" Hermione said.

"Why do you think I have these bruises?" Neville pointed to his puffy face. "Here we are."

"HARRY! RON! HERMIONE!" Choruses of this phrase could be heard all throughout the room. Many people were coming over and hugging them, laughing, etc. James, Sirius, and Remus happily stayed in the background.

Once everyone had settled down, Neville relayed that Harry, Ron, and Hermione needed to find something and get out, not fight off the Carrows.

"So you're going to leave us in this mess?" Anthony Goldstein said angrily.

"It'll help us defeat You-Know-Who –," Harry began.

"Then let us help!" Sirius interjected.

Harry gave his godfather a sad glance before turning to Ron and Hermione and conversing quietly with them. They seemed to be arguing – eventually, Harry lifted his head.

"Okay, you can help," he said, which resulted in the DA cheering. "We're looking for something that belonged to Ravenclaw."

"There's the Lost Diadem," came a voice from near the passage.

"Luna!" Neville cried, and ran to give her a hug. "You got the message!"

"Yes," Luna smiled at Neville. "More are coming, I saw them coming though. But like I said, Ravenclaw had her Lost Diadem."

"But it's lost," Michael Corner pointed out. "No one's seen it for hundreds of years. Not in living memory, at least."

"I think it could be what we're looking for," Hermione said slowly.

"I can take you to see the Rowena Ravenclaw statue in the Ravenclaw common room, Harry," Luna said brightly. "She's wearing it there."

"Sure," Harry said. After saying something to Ron and Hermione, he followed Luna out the door.

A little over twenty minutes later, Colin Creevey came bursting into the room. "Voldemort's coming!" he cried.

"What?"

"Voldemort – is –coming!" he panted.

"Good thing we contacted the Order," Neville paled. "Are they coming?"

As if on cue, a group of people entered through the door. Old DA members, the Order of the Phoenix, the Weasley family…

"Ginny!" Neville rushed to greet her.

"Hi, Neville," she laughed. "How are you?"

"Just grand," Neville grimaced.

"I expected as much."

The Marauders, on the other hand, were gazing intently at the adults entering the room, wondering if they'd see someone they would recognize from their time.

"No," Sirius whispered as they looked at a tall black man that entered and started speaking with who they recognized as Molly Weasley. "We don't know him."

"Now_ he_ looks familiar," James said, gesturing to a young man that just walked in. He was tall and thin, with pale skin and thin scars running down his face.

"Hello…" Neville had just approached the man.

"Hello, Neville," the man greeted him warmly. "How are you?"

"Good, sir," Neville said. James and Sirius exchanged looks. Sir? "There's just…"

"What is it?" the man asked curiously.

"I…I think I should let you see for yourself," Neville said. "Er – mates?" He looked around for Remus, Sirius, and James.

"What is it, Neville?" Sirius called.

"Come here," Neville glanced nervously at his former professor, who had gone a bit pale at the voice.

The Marauders approached Neville and the man cautiously. When the man got a good look at them, he nearly fainted. He had to grip Neville's shoulder to keep from falling.

"What – how?" he gasped.

"Erm," Neville said hesitantly. "Remus, Sirius, James, I'd like you to meet…Remus. The older version."

Remus gaped at the man. _WHAT? _

"Wow, you look very different," James examined his twenty-year older best friend.

"You look old," Sirius said disgustedly.

The older Remus turned to Neville. "How?" he managed in a hoarse whisper.

"Time travel, back at the beginning of the year," Neville said.

"What do they know?"

"Sirius and James know about their deaths and the circumstances surrounding their deaths," Neville said. "They know about Harry. They met Harry."

"That all?" The future Remus asked.

"There's more?" Sirius asked. "Neville, why didn't you tell us?"

"Neville doesn't know," elder Remus gazed at Sirius and James. Oh, how he had missed them…

"What is it, professor?" Neville asked, curious.

"Oh, I'm, ah, married now," Remus said.

"No way!" Sirius and James cried together. They turned to the younger Remus. "You finally found someone to marry you!"

The younger Remus looked even more deeply startled. "I'm a werewolf!" Remus said. "I can't get married!"

"No law against it," Remus smiled at his younger self. "Would you like to know to whom?"

"YES!" Sirius and James answered for him.

"Nymphadora Tonks," Older Remus smiled.

"Andy's daughter? That's six?" Sirius asked.

"That'd be the one."

"NO WAY!" James laughed.

"Oh, and, there's one more thing…" The elder Remus said, casting a glance at his younger self. "If...ah…_I _promise not to freak out."

"Sure," Remus said. "Nothing could disturb me more than this."

"You'd be surprised," his older self said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a picture, giving it to his younger self. "That's Teddy."

The picture was of a young baby with bright turquoise hair, smiling widely at the camera.

"Is that your son?" Sirius said gleefully.

"It is."

Young Remus wanted to collapse. "But – but – but –."

"Not a werewolf," Remus said pleasantly. "Well, not a full one, at least. He doesn't transform."

As the Marauders were talking to the future version of Remus, and Harry had come back into the room with Luna. The older Remus had gone over to talk to him, and Neville was quietly conversing with the Marauders. The Weasley family now seemed to be in a fight. Apparently, one of their sons was there, one that hadn't spoken to the family in a few years.

While the argument was going on, Ginny came over to stand with Neville and the Marauders.

"Mum says I can't fight," she said darkly. "I'm too young. I'll be seventeen in a few months."

"It's okay," Remus reassured her. "I'm sure it'll turn out fine."

"That reminds me…" Neville began. "I don't think the three of you should fight, either."

"Why not?" Sirius said, affronted, James following his lead.

"He's right," Remus said softly. "We should stay in here. If we die…the whole timeline gets screwed up."

Neville looked relieved. "See? You really should stay in here."

"Fine," James grumbled. "But if it weren't for the timeline, we'd be unstoppable."

Eventually, the room cleared out until it was just Ginny and the Marauders. They were all heading down to the Great Hall to fight.

"This is stupid," Ginny growled. "We should be allowed to fight as well."

"I'm going," Sirius said. "No one is going to stop me." As he prepared to stand up, Remus forced him down.

"Bad dog, Sirius," Remus said firmly. "_Sit."_

"I don't want to sit," Sirius said angrily. "I want to fight."

"Remus is right," James sighed. "We can't risk dying. No matter how much I want to fight."

Suddenly, a voice rang out throughout the room. "_I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight." _

"That – that must have been Voldemort," Remus said shakily.

"You don't think they'll turn him in, will you?" Sirius asked.

"No, they won't," Ginny said. "If they do, however…" She fingered her wand.

The entryway to the Hog's Head burst open to reveal two women, one an older lady with graying hair and bright grey eyes, the other young, with cropped purple hair and dark eyes.

"What's going on?" the younger woman asked.

"Everyone went down to the Great Hall to fight," Sirius groused. "But we can't."

"Well, why ever now?" The elder lady asked as she sat down.

"Ginnys' too young and we're too valuable," James rolled his eyes.

"Well, who are you, anyway?" the younger witch sat down as well. "This is Augusta Longbottom and I'm Nymphadora Tonks."

Remus fell out of his seat.

"What's the matter with him?" Tonks asked as James and Sirius laughed loudly.

"I bet you're in for a surprise," Sirius said, still guffawing. "We're time travelers. I'm Sirius Black, this is James Potter, and the one that just fell is Remus Lupin, who we recently learned you're married to." More snickering. Remus glared at his so-called friends.

"Really?" Tonks asked excitedly. "That's awesome! And I'm finally older than you!" She gave Remus a winning smile, who returned it shakily.

"That's right!" Sirius said. "You'd be…twenty-five right now!"

"Yep," Tonks said proudly. "Have you seen Remus – the older Remus – by any chance?"

"Not since he left for the Great Hall," James said. Tonks frowned.

"Hey!" Remus sat up straight as he realized something. He started rummaging in his bag.

"What is it?" Sirius asked.

"The potion that McGonagall gave us," Remus said. "She said it'd be ready in four months – that was on January 3rd."

"So?" James asked, unsure where this was going.

"It's May 2nd. We can take it at midnight."

"We can?" Sirius asked. "I'm oddly sad about that – it means we won't get to see some of the battle."

"I'm sad about it," Ginny said. She had remained quiet for the duration of the conversation with Tonks. "It means I won't get to see you lot again."

Sirius grinned at her. "But you shall remember us always."

"But we do get to go home," James pointed. "And I can tell Lily that we get married! Then she'll finally go out with me."

"Or she'll call you delusional," Remus chuckled.

Harry, along with his friends Ron and Hermione, burst through the door at that moment.

"Tonks?" Hermione asked. "Aren't you supposed to be at your mother's watching Teddy?"

"Erm –," Tonks shot Remus a glance.

"I know," Remus reassured her. "Your husband told me."

"You mean you told me," Tonks grinned. "Have you seen Remus? The other one?"

"He was leading fighters to the grounds," Harry told her.

Tonks set off quickly. "Bye, guys!" she called to the Marauders.

"And my grandson?" Augusta asked. "Where is he?"

"Fighting," Ron gave his answer briefly.

"Then I shall go and join him," the old woman set off quicker than would be thought possible.

"Er – Ginny, Remus, Sirius…Dad," Harry said awkwardly. "I really don't like this – but we need you to leave now."

"Really?" Sirius asked, beyond excited. "You are giving us permission to go fight?"

"But what if the Death Eaters kill us?" Remus protested. "That would screw up the timeline."

"He has a point, Harry," Hermione said nervously. "They need to stay in here."

"Well, whatever you decide about them, _I _am leaving," Ginny departed the room.

"Well…" Harry pondered.

"LET US FIGHT, LET US FIGHT!" Sirius chanted loudly.

"Can't argue with that logic, Hermione," Harry smiled. "Do you lot have your cloak?"

"Yeah, we do," James said hesitantly. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to act like around his _son. _

"Good, I'd be reluctant to let you have mine," Harry said. "Just stay under it and go to the…erm…"

"Go to the edge of the Forbidden Forest," Hermione put in. "There might be some fighting happening in that area, so go in deep enough that you can see it, but can't get hit by any spells that go astray."

"Good idea," Remus said. "But why do we have to leave?"

"It's…complicated," Ron said nervously.

"Well, I don't care what it is as long as we get some action in!" Sirius grinned. "Let's go!"

"Be careful – try to avoid jets of green light!" Hermione said anxiously. But her pleas fell on deaf ears as James draped the cloak over the three of them and they hurried out of the Room out into the battle.


End file.
